Method and apparatus for generating alerts in a messaging device

Abstract

A messaging device (100) for generating alerts indicative of message reception includes a receiver (105) for receiving a message, a memory (125, 130, 140) in which information unrelated to the alerts is stored, and an alert device (155) for generating, to announce message reception, an alert that is a function of bits of the information.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A messaging device for generating an alert indicative of message reception, comprising: a receiver for receiving a message;   a memory in which information unrelated to the alerts is stored;   an alert device for generating the alert coupled to the receiver and the memory, wherein the alert is a function of bits of the information;   a pointer indicative of a memory location in which the bits are stored; and   an announcer coupled to the pointer for driving the alert device with the bits and advancing, prior to reception of a next message, the pointer to a next memory location, wherein bits stored in the next memory location determine a next alert generated to announce reception of the next message.   
     
     
       2. The messaging device of claim 1, wherein the memory comprises a read only memory. 
     
     
       3. The messaging device of claim 1, wherein the memory comprises a message memory for storing the message, and wherein the bits comprise bits of message information. 
     
     
       4. The messaging device of claim 1, wherein a length value is stored to indicate length of the alert, the length value determining a number of the bits. 
     
     
       5. A messaging device for generating an alert indicative of message reception, comprising: a receiver for receiving a message;   a memory in which information unrelated to the alerts is stored;   an alert device for generating the alert coupled to the receiver and the memory, wherein the alert is a function of bits of the information;   a random flag indicative of whether random alerts are to be generated to announce reception of messages; and   an announcer coupled to the random flag for driving the alert device with the bits when the random flag is set and for driving the alert device with a default alert pattern when the random flag is not set.   
     
     
       6. The messaging device of claim 5, wherein the memory comprises a read only memory. 
     
     
       7. The messaging device of claim 5, wherein the memory comprises a message memory for storing the message, and wherein the bits comprise bits of message information. 
     
     
       8. The messaging device of claim 5, wherein a length value is stored to indicate length of the alert, the length value determining a number of the bits. 
     
     
       9. A messaging device for generating alerts, comprising: a receiver;   a message memory in which message information received by the receiver is stored;   an announcer coupled to the message memory and selecting bits of the message information;   an alert device for generating an alert as a function of the bits selected by the announcer to announce reception of a message by the receiver; and   a pointer indicative of a location in the message memory, wherein the announcer advances the pointer after selecting the bits of the message information.   
     
     
       10. A messaging device for generating alerts, comprising: a receiver;   a message memory in which message information received by the receiver is stored;   an announcer coupled to the message memory and selecting bits of the message information;   an alert device for generating an alert as a function of the bits selected by the announcer to announce reception of a message by the receiver; and   a pointer indicative of a location in the message memory, wherein, prior to reception of a next message, the announcer advances the pointer after selecting the bits of the message information.   
     
     
       11. A method for generating alerts in a messaging device, the method comprising the steps of: selecting a memory location in which bits of information unrelated to the alerts are stored;   receiving a message;   generating an alert as a function of the bits to announce message reception; and   determining, prior to the generating step, whether a random flag is set;   performing the generating step when the random flag is set; and   generating a default alert that is not a function of the bits when the random flag is not set.   
     
     
       12. The method of claim 11, wherein the selecting step comprises the step of selecting the memory location prior to the receiving step. 
     
     
       13. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of: selecting another memory location in which other bits of information unrelated to the alerts are stored, the other bits to be used in announcing reception of a next message.   
     
     
       14. The method of claim 11, further comprising, prior to the generating step, the steps of: retrieving a number of bytes stored at the memory location, the number equivalent to a length value;   selecting four bits of each of the number of bytes to result in the bits used in generating the alert; and   storing the bits in a buffer.   
     
     
       15. The method of claim 11, further comprising, prior to the selecting step, the step of: storing a source memory indicator indicative of a memory from which the bits in the memory location are to be selected.